"When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you." - Winston Churchill
The Arbiter roared as yet another Sentinel was felled by the minigun. Spotting another dull gray aerial in his periphery the Arbiter spun about, bringing the gun to bear. Another torrent of yellow-orange fire knocked the machine out of the sky.
An explosion rocked the platform, momentarily knocking the Arbiter to his knees. The horde of Aggressor Sentinels began to fire in earnest, their orange beams of energy boring through the metal hide of the Warthog as well as scarring the surface of the Forerunner platform.
Snarling in aggravation the Arbiter spun up the minigun, roaring yet another challenge as he began to rake the pursuing enemies. Their shields flickered in response, the innumerable quantity of bullets disintegrating upon contact with the energy shields. Several of the advance machines received a hail of metal rounds as their shields failed, the bullets managed to digging into their critical components, sending them careening into their brethren.
"Spartan," the Arbiter addressed his human driver, allowing the gun a brief respite as he sighted a new target, "unless we manage to reach your ship post-haste, then we shall be overwhelmed!"
The stoic Spartan merely responded by forcing the Warthog to faster speeds, disregarding the chaos erupting around him: plates of Forerunner metal being blown out of place by the Halo ring's firing sequence and lances of deadly orange energy raining down upon them constantly. A sudden burst of heat announced the arrival of a dangerously close laser, leaving what had been part of the windshield.
Observing the growing bedlam surrounding him the Chief called upon his AI, "Cortana, how far away from the Forward Unto Dawn?"
A feminine voice answered his query, "It's only a couple hundred more meters, Chief! We should catch sight of in a minute!"
Grimly noting the growing number of Sentinels and the ever narrowing path the platform presented the Chief performed a sudden turn, nearly throwing the Elite clear. As the Warthog sped along the new path a portion of the pursuing Sentinels broke off from the main contingent and began to fly alongside the Warthog.
"They're trying to cut us off!" Cortana exclaimed as the parallel group began to fly ahead, spinning about sporadically to fire.
Noting this the Chief hoisted the M-41 and sighted the leader of the pack. Two rockets in quick succession slammed into the machine, disorienting it enough to cause it to swerve out of its original flight path and into its neighbor. The ensuing chain reaction turned more than half of the detachment into spiraling columns of flame.
"Impressive, even for you Spartan!"
"Noted," the Chief responded, sight trained on the rapidly growing silhouette of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn,even as his AI companion alerted him to the approaching gunmetal ship.
A flying piece of platform flew overhead, nearly shearing the head off the Arbiter who only just escaped decapitation. The explosions that rocked the platform grew in power and in rate exponentially, the Halo event nearing its climax.
As they neared the ledge of the platform the ground beneath them erupted violently, sending the Warthog wildly into the vehicle bay of the frigate. Dazed by the sudden change in inertia, the Chief shook his head. Ejecting Cortana's chip from his helm the Chief inserted his AI partner into a nearby terminal, engaging the Forward Unto Dawn's engines.
"Cortana, how long until the array fires?"
"We have five minutes to get into slipspace."
"Then we will need to reach the helm of your ship, Spartan. Quickly."
"No need Arbiter," Cortana smirked, gesturing to the pedestal, "I'm already there."
Shipmaster Saevius of the CCS-class battlecruiser Wrathful Retribution slammed a meaty fist onto a nearby console.
"What do you MEAN the Sacred Ring is firing?"
"Shipmaster, it is as I have reported, the Sacred Ring is being its firing sequence and will commence in-"
"FOOL! Do you not understand? That HERETICAL Arbiter and his HUMAN allies have commenced the destruction of the RING!"
"Shipmaster, perhaps this situation can still be salvaged. We may be able to save the Ring by-"
"FOOL! This travesty can ONLY be atoned for if we ERADICATE the unbelievers. I will be DAMNED before I allow the DEMON to escape after his part in the destruction of the previous Relic."
"Shipmaster, an enemy contact is exiting the Sacred Ring!"
"ENGAGE DRIVES!" Saevius bellowed, "DIVERT ALL REMAINING POWER TO WEAPONS! THEY SHALL NOT ESCAPE OUR WRATH!"
"Chief! A battlecruiser has just emerged from the debris."
"I thought that the Elites fell back?"
"It is likely that it is Brute controlled," the Arbiter answered, obvious loathing roiling underneath the surface of his answer.
"Cortana, how are weapons?"
"Miranda managed to keep most of the weapons intact, but our main concern should be getting ourselves the hell out of here before Halo self-destructs."
"When will the portal be opened?"
"Now."
"Shipmaster, the fleeing ship has created a slipspace portal."
"Then what are you waiting for? SHOOT IT!"
A sudden rocking shook the Forward Unto Dawn as Covenant ordnance landed on the UNSC frigate.
"Chief," Cortana warned, "we have a minute until another Halo event; I'm going to divert more power to the engines."
"Do it."
"Done."
The Chief was thrown as the Dawn was suddenly buffeted by a series of shockwaves.
"It seems that the Halo has detonated," the Arbiter observed, gripping a rail tightly.
"Cortana?"
"The Arbiter is right Chief, you need to—BRACE!"
"WHAT ARE YOU FOOLS DOING? TARGET THEIR ENGINES! KILL THEM!" Turning to his navigator the Shipmaster howled, "OPEN A PORTAL, WE MUST PURSUE!"
"THE INFERNO SHIPMASTER—IT'S INTERFERING WITH OUR SLIPSPACE CAPABILI-"
"GO THROUGH THEIR'S!"
The battlecruiser suddenly shook as the blast wave slammed into it, its supernova like heat melting away what little shielding the Wrathful Retribution possessed. The debris of the battle above Installation 00 created the perfect analogue of shrapnel for a 1,000 meter craft, cutting through the armored hull of the battlecruiser.
The last thing Shipmaster Saevius witnessed on the mortal plane as his helm was opened to the unforgiving cold and to the explosive power of a Halo Array was the Wrathful Retribution colliding with the rear of the Forward Unto Dawn, both ships lurching violently as they entered slipspace, the portal closing right as the CCS battlecruiser passed through.
"-ief? Ch-ef? Chief?"
Spartan-117 shook his head, his vision sharpening, making out the blue-white form of Cortana and the awakening Arbiter.
"What happened?"
"Deceleration and collision threw you forwards. Beyond that, I'm not sure. When Halo fired it shook itself to pieces—did a number on the Ark. The shockwave caused catastrophic damage to the portal, forcing it to close."
"How did we get through?"
"Luckily for us the Covenant Loyalists followed us into the portal—ramming us through as the main force of the shockwave reached us. They acted as a shield, absorbing most of the damage and incoming shrapnel. Well, most of it anyway. The pieces that did get through gutted the ship."
The Spartan looked about the darkened bay, switching on the lights on his iconic helm, "The crew?"
"... Dead."
"How am I still alive?" the Arbiter inquired, still recovering.
"Looks like Chief's luck rubbed off on you. The vehicle bay was closed and untouched. It's one of the only parts of the ship still pressurized."
"Where are we?"
"I don't know. Uncharted space: light-years away from UNSC space, Covenant space. Perhaps even the Orion Arm."
"We're going to have to stay in cryostasis for the time being."
"Yes… But Truth and the Covenant, the Flood… it's finished."
"Were it so easy," the Arbiter muttered underneath his breath.
Platform 9754 maneuvered its flaps in tandem, silently broadcasting its confusion.
It had happened upon an abandoned craft, devoid of life: likely due to the entirety of the ship being mutilated, peppered with gray and purple shards of metal. Despite the vessel's extreme state of deterioration, it was evident that the ship possessed a serene, aquatic appearance—characteristic of the Asari. However, preliminary scans indicated that it was not Asari, or at least not entirely Asari. Still, what dreadnought did not utilize mass accelerators? Were they not the most devastating weapons that the galaxy had to offer?
Perhaps not. The latter fourth of the dreadnought was gone. The cut was fine, much too fine for any conventional weaponry. It was somewhat reminiscent of the wounds the Reapers had left upon unfortunate craft, but it was too precise. Much too precise—even for a Reaper.
Regulations and programming dictated further investigation; 9754 activated the scanners, sweeping his digits across the holographic display. Shipboard scanners aboard his fighter-sized craft began to analyze the ship: armor composition, probable shield strength, weaponry etc.
As the program ran 9754 launched itself into the consensus to contact its home ship, D7A-056.
"Platform 9754. Why has your reconnaissance of Sector 57287 halted?"
"We have made a discovery."
"Of enough import to bypass directives?"
"Yes. We have discovered an abandoned dreadnought. The likelihood of it being Asari is calculated to be 95.775%."
"There has been no activity of any species in that Sector. The find of a dreadnought is illogical. How is this possible?"
"Unknown. Perhaps a-"
A high-pitched beeping suddenly erupted, alerting 9754 to the scans' completion as well as drawing him out of the consensus.
As it examined the data, its flaps waggled furiously, vents of heat escaping as its programs struggled to compile the staggering quantity of information into comprehensible parcels.
"9754?" suddenly the platform was suddenly drawn back into the consensus. "What is your status?"
"Online. My scanners have uncovered-" the AI paused, uncertain as to how it should go about explaining the information explained. "Perhaps it would be more efficient were we to send you the information."
A lengthy intermission ensued as the data was transferred from 9754 into the processors of every Geth in existence. Silence reigned as 9754 awaited a response.
Finally, "New directive. Cease reconnaissance efforts. Await our arrival."
Hmm, the intro always does seem to be my weakest point for some reason... Anyways, I tried to create a semi-human/semi-robotic Geth type through the usage of computer verbiage whilst injecting a sort of human feel into it. Not sure if that was the best approach, but I hope it worked... Oh yeah, I'll be adding reference links for the people in the Character Profiles on my profile... Later... Maybe...
If you enjoyed it, disliked it, hated it, or are ambivalent towards it, review. I like feedback.